LBJ Stadium?

Curly R's eight part series on the history of RFK Stadium continues, and then there was just decades of Redskins football.

Part One:  Faded Glory
Part Two:  Government Intervention
Part Three:  Race and Football
Part Four:  A Complex Relationship
Part Five:  Ernie Davis, Bobby Mitchell and Ron Hatcher
Part Six:  Palace Intrigue
Part Seven:  The Stadium Becomes Legend
Part Eight:  Friday

Photo by Ben Folsom.

LBJ Stadium?

Curly R's eight part series on the history of RFK Stadium continues, did you ever wonder how the stadium really got its name?

Part One:  Faded Glory
Part Two:  Government Intervention
Part Three:  Race and Football
Part Four:  A Complex Relationship
Part Five:  Ernie Davis, Bobby Mitchell and Ron Hatcher
Part Six:  Palace Intrigue
Part Seven:  Thursday
Part Eight:  Friday

Photo by Ben Folsom.

When Bobby Arrived

Curly R's eight part series on the history of RFK Stadium continues, in this episode we exactly what the Redskins did to get around the whole You Guys Don't Have Any Blacks On Your Team thing.  Their names are Ernie Davis and Bobby Mitchell.

Part One:  Faded Glory
Part Two:  Government Intervention
Part Three:  Race and Football
Part Four:  A Complex Relationship
Part Five:  Ernie Davis, Bobby Mitchell and Ron Hatcher
Part Six:  Wednesday
Part Seven:  Thursday
Part Eight:  Friday

Photo by Ben Folsom.

Not even in the back of the team bus

Curly R's eight part series on the history of RFK Stadium continues, in this episode we first learn of the complex relationship between the federal government, the city of the District of Columbia and the Washington Redskins.

Part One:  Faded Glory
Part Two:  Government Intervention
Part Three:  Race and Football
Part Four:  A Complex Relationship
Part Five:  Tuesday
Part Six:  Wednesday
Part Seven:  Thursday
Part Eight:  Friday

Photo by Ben Folsom.

Not even in the back of the team bus

Greetings Sunday denizens of Hogs Haven, as you are watching football and perusing news, please take a moment, sit back and ponder:  The Giants lost in the last second on *another* Eli Manning mistake, the Eagles are 1-4 on a four game losing streak, and the Cowboys are stewing over Tony Romo's incompentence on a loooooong week off.  Redskins have sole possession of first in the NFC Beast.

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In partnership with Hogs Haven, Curly R's eight part series on the history of RFK Stadium continues, in which we learn what a committed racist George Preston Marshall was, and how Attorney General Bobby Kennedy was not ok with that.

Part One:  Faded Glory
Part Two:  Government Intervention
Part Three:  Race and Football
Part Four:  Monday
Part Five:  Tuesday
Part Six:  Wednesday
Part Seven:  Thursday
Part Eight:  Friday

Photo by Ben Folsom.

Big government

The day belongs to Al Davis, who died today at age 82, and not to the Redskins on their bye week.  I am sure Ken and Kevin will join me in sending our condolences to Al's family, love him or hate him, there will never be another one like Al Davis.

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In partnership with Hogs Haven, Curly R's eight part series on the history of RFK Stadium continues, in which we learn it literally took an act of Congress and what Mike Nixon and Jim Zorn have in common.

Part One:  Faded Glory
Part Two:  Government Intervention
Part Three:  Race and Football
Part Four:  Monday
Part Five:  Tuesday
Part Six:  Wednesday
Part Seven:  Thursday
Part Eight:  Friday

Photo by Ben Folsom.

Just the sight of it

Greetings denizens of Hogs Haven, Ben Folsom from The Curly R here, did you know RFK Stadium, home to the Redskins for 36 years, turned 50 this week?  You probably did not, there was little coverage of the milestone.

We have the answer to that.  Starting today and running all through the bye week, Curly R, in partnership with Hogs Haven, begins an eight part series on the history of this iconic venue, how it came to be, how it was almost taken from us, how it got its name and the team's role in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s.

I hope you enjoy it, fifteen years since the team stopped playing there, it is time to give RFK its due.

Part One:  Faded Glory
Part Two:  Government Intervention
Part Three:  Race and Football
Part Four:  Monday
Part Five:  Tuesday
Part Six:  Wednesday
Part Seven:  Thursday
Part Eight:  Friday

Photo by Ben Folsom.

Well.

The 2010 season is over, the Redskins finished 6-10, ending on another miss by a bad kicker who was needed in crucial situations too many times because of an offense that could not fight its way out of a wet paper bag and a defense that could not stop a three year old from having ice cream for breakfast.  Hybrid defensive nose end and hundred million dollar man Albert Haynesworth ended the year on suspension, heralded quarterback Donovan McNabb, acquired for two draft picks we cannot get back, ended the season as the emergency quarterback.  Fourteen players were placed on injured reserve.  No tailback had more than 750 yards on the ground, and no defensive player had nine sacks.

Netting six wins does not feel as awesome now as getting that fourth, the win tying the 2009 record, did after game seven now does it?

So bravo for the coaches, who still have long work weeks ahead of them evaluating every play and every player before their 2011 offseason begins, I just hope that someone is evaluating the coaches, and if that is no-longer-rookie general manager Bruce Allen then I also hope someone is evaluating him but wait who else would that be but owner Dan Snyder, himself with a terrible record of football judgement?

Oh my.

Let's talk a little bit about what happens now.

Continue reading this post »

I will be sure to disclaim that anything could happen, and other teams could fail out and help the Redskins, or there could be another miracle run to end the season.  Disclaimer up front, no fine print here.

Really though, the Vikings game was it.  The end of the productive season.  Playoff hopes all but extinguished, starting positions still in flux, injuries and poor planning along the roster and new systems on both sides of the ball.  Everything has come together in a conspiracy to keep the Redskins out of the playoffs, we will be at best an also ran, the guys over on the right side of the Sunday graphics in the Still Alive column for another couple of weeks until mathematically we are eliminated.

At worst, Redskins finish the season on a disappointing loss heavy run while all the people that talk and write about football, professionally and otherwise, start the process of offseason scrutiny a few weeks early.

How do I know?  My gut.  As a Redskins fan.

Continue reading this post »

With one minute and fifty seconds left and Washington down by six in the Redskins game eight against the Detroit Lions quarterback Donovan McNabb was benched, the resulting breach in the Primary Universe created a Tangent Universe, one that will collapse back on itself in just under a month in a half.

Unless our hero can solve the riddle of time and set things back the way they were, possibly sacrificing himself in the process.

How else to explain the past three weeks?  First there was the benching, and the increasingly pathetic excuses and reasoning, Rex Grossman was better prepared to execute the two minute drill blah blah, Donovan is too hurt to practice the two minute drill yada yada, he's not in condition to run a hurry up etc etc, we don't like his practice habits and so on, oh by the way did I forget to mention that in the five weeks before the Lions game that NO Redskins quarterback practiced the two minute drill?  Kind of makes the whole Rex is more preparered thing seem even sillier dudnit?  Do you believe in time travel?

Eventually we would settle on a plausible and totally believable narrative that Donovan was benched not by Mike Shanahan, but rather by Kyle, and that all the scrambling and hole digging and borderline disrespecting was all the father covering for the son.  I'm not afraid anymore!

Then right when all the cultural cues and rules of football said we have to move on and judge the team by its performance in the post-benching final eight games, Donovan signs a (not really) giant money contract out of nowhere and the Redskins immediately lay a Monday Night Egg that is so far outside the boundaries of a normal football performance that now I am thinking something is seriously wrong, like cosmically wrong.  No amount of Redskins pregame trashtalking or Eagles gameplanning could have produced that game.  We gotta find ourselves a Smurfette.

So when the Redskins went to Tennessee to play the Titans, a good team on a two game losing streak and with their own personnel issues, but also no problems handling NFC East teams this season, I just assumed the Redskins were going to mail it in and go back to what they traditionally do best, cash checks and stall until January.  Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.

Instead they fought a war of attrition against a better team, they hung in there.

Continue reading this post »

I do not know even where to begin.  There are so many bad things, I'll hit them after the jump, on this side let us talk about the game itself.  As I have been for every Redskins-Eagles game but one since 1999, I was there last night, with my game partner lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R/Hogs Haven reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery.  Italian sausages and whiskey at the tailgate and a healthy walk from the Gray lot to the stadium.

This was our twelfth straight rivalry game at FedEx Field, we have pretty much seen it all, the Cowboys fan who picked a fight and got a bottle broken over his head in 1999, Jeff George in 2000, the anthrax no wait pepper spray game in 2001, Steve Spurrier, Tim Hasselbeck, max protect, three Monday Night Football road trips in four seasons, insufferable Eagles fans in my stadium and all that Donovan McNabb, going into last night's game the Redskins were 3-8 at home versus the Eagles during our streak which happens to coincide with Donovan's time in Philadelphia.

Ten seconds into the game our house belonged to Eagles fans.  In the first place there are tons of them, at every game, they represent well in Washington.  By fourteen nothing they were whooping, by 21 nothing they were in charge, most Redskins fans shrugged and took it, it was truly soul crushing.

As the game marched through halftime and the rain got harder, Redskins fans started bailing en masse.  By the fourth quarter we had moved down to fifty yard line right near the rail behind the Eagles bench, it was Eaglestown, at one point the energy got so high they forgot some letters and chanted E-A-G-S EAGLES!!  They were serenading Michael Vick, clearly in earshot in an empty stadium, with MVP! MVP! and SIGN HIM! SIGN HIM!  When it was finally over most of the Eagles fans had crowded around the visitors tunnel and were going apeshit, the Eagles players took their time and gave their crew some love.

We were soaked, Wilbert Montgomery was wallowing.  The rain stopped immediately after the game.  It all pretty much sucked.

Continue reading this post »

In which we lay effusive praise on the defense while pretty much ignoring the offense.  Mostly.

The thing that will be remembered about the Bears game on Sunday is what a mess it was, nine total turnovers, eight fumbles, six interceptions with two returned for touchdowns.  Of the five complete drives in the third quarter, four of them ended in turnovers!  Jay Cutler was batted around like a rag doll and Donovan McNabb missed his second pick six of the afternoon on a game management error that if it had occurred without the nullified Chicago defensive score we would be talking about it as egregious.

So in the isn't that hilarious aftermath of the win, let us set aside the performance of the offense for a moment and take a look at the defensive side of the ball, this was a huge game for that unit to build confidence going into the good part of the schedule.

Continue reading this post »

In which we lay praise most effusive onto Peyton Manning and the Colts offense notwithstanding any particular Redskins performance.

All I have to say is wow.  If you ever wanted to see what a pure football offense looks like, Sunday's Redskins home game against the Colts showcased one.  It was hard to watch, I found myself restless in my seat, frustrated that Peyton could just... walk up to the line, snap the ball and find open receivers.  Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were at one point in the third quarter laughing that there was no time during Colts possessions to show replays:  Play ends, Peyton walks to line, directs players, snaps ball, pass complete, rinse repeat.

Make no mistake, the Redskins played well enough to win, if even one of the three dropped interceptions had been pulled down or if the Redskins had not abandoned a successful running game in the fourth quarter or if Donovan McNabb had been better on just a couple of passes or if Pierre Garcon and Aaron Francisco had not managed to pull in one handed catches, the Redskins could have won this game, it was not at all like the 2006 game when the Redskins clung to a tenuous one point lead at halftime before Peyton unloaded, the Colts won that game 36-22 in a walkaway.

Though this Sunday's game was closer, the Redskins struggled all night to catch a quarterback who plays like he was raised in a saline tank by Ron Jaworski, watching footage of every NFL play ever on a continual loop from every angle.

Continue reading this post »

A strange motivation has overcome injured tailback Clinton Portis, now suddenly he is talking not about his critics or about helping his teammates or about how hard he runs and blocks on every down.  Now he is talking openly about individual career achievements and his personal quest to become the Redskins all time leading ball carrier.

Setting aside the propriety of a football player placing himself and his performance ahead of the team's, is this something Redskins fans want to see?  Are you ready to embrace Clinton Portis as the the Redskins all time leading rusher?  Is it time for Redskins fans to move on?

Or is The Diesel still the guy?

Continue reading this post »

I was fortunate enough to be at Sunday's game in Philadelphia, Redskins-Eagles games being something of a hobby for me for more than a decade.  And just when I thought I had seen everything there, those fans surprised me.

But before we get into the experience of being in Philadelphia draped in burgundy, let us review some key football takeaways from this game before the jump and you can decide whether to join me after, for it is all reflection on more than a decade of annual travel to the City of Brotherly Love for the rivalry game.

Sunday's game was all about the Redskins playing a physical game against the Eagles, in the secondary, Washington started the game in a two deep zone, a coverage set not frequently played this season, and kept the Eagles receiving threats well in check all night, if you trolled any Eagles blog or media outlet leading up to the game, the scouting of the Redskins for this game was simple:  THEY ARE SOFT IN TEH MIDDLE and that turned out to be true, look at LeShon McCoys' numbers for the day.

Michael Vick or no Michael Vick the Redskins gameplan was to challenge the receivers at the line, take away the sideline and deep routes and make Philadelphia earn their yards on possession plays.  Looking at the numbers it worked, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin combined to grab four receptions totaling 34 yards.  Michael Vick was sandwiched on a long run by DeAngelo Hall and Kareem Moore, and that next to last play when a visibly exhausted DeSean Jackson pulled up instead of stretching out for the pass and getting clobbered by LaRon Landry happened right in front of me.

Continue reading this post »

It is a simple multiple choice question:  Do you see the loss to the Rams as a canary in the coal mine the Redskins are headed down a long path to a bad season kind of loss?  Or do you see it as an acceptable part of the sausage making of a good football team?  Because I thought I knew and now I do not.

In three games we went from hope inspiring win to productive loss to OMG THE REDSKINS ARE AWFUL!  Two full days of coverage into this week's loss and some themes are emerging, let us review them and see if they really apply.

First, this was a tough loss, the Redskins gave up play after play and never put the game away defensively.  If you go and look at the Gamebook (PDF) and check out the Rams ten longest plays from scrimmage, there were no knockout punches, just a steady stream of jabs that kept the chains moving, three of the top five of those gainers would have had different outcomes if Kareem Moore had not whiffed, if DeAngelo Hall had not fallen down and if DeAngelo had covered Mark Clayton's inside move, it strikes me that DeAngelo's boast last week of wanting to cover opponents' top receiver was ill advised.

Offensively there was no rhythm to go with some questionable personnel calls.  With or without Anthony Armstrong is it time to see if Devin Thomas can play a little?  This somehow reminds me of former Redskins receiver Desmond Howard's situation in Green Bay in 1996, while the guy was tearing up the kickoff return game there was no way Mike Holmgren would let Brett Favre throw it to Desmond on a dare, the guy just could not run a route.  Whatever the case may be with Devin, the team could have used another viable option out there.

There are deeper questions that emerged this week.

Continue reading this post »

First let us get the obligatory out of the way:  Sunday's loss to the Texans was about as good a loss as you can expect at this point in the reconstruction project that is the Washington Redskins.  Last season, while the Redskins were flailing about with extra sets of eyes and getting booed off home wins, University of Virginia product Matt Schaub led the NFL in passing yards, last week Matt engineered a rare win by Houston over the Colts that moved the Texans to 2-17 all time versus Indianapolis, two weeks into the season the Texans are solid playoff contenders and Super Bowl is not out of the question.  The Redskins were beaten by a legitimately good team.

So for this week let us not fret there was no running game nor stop to consider whether Donovan McNabb makes every coach seem like Andy Reid, instead let us examine exactly how this game was lost.  Here is the shorthand:  Carlos Rogers, Fred Davis, Graham Gano, Chris Horton, Chris Horton.

Continue reading this post »

So that actually happened: Donovan McNabb is actually Washington's quarterback, Mike Shanahan is actually the coach and the Redskins actually wore gold pants.  Throw in actually making the Cowboys look bad on national television and it was the kind of night Redskins fans have not experienced in a while, at least since Joe Gibbs returned in 2004, the Redskins followed a disappointing 2003, winning their season opener the next year with a new coach, a new quarterback as the team opened a new chapter in its history.

That day looks a little small now when you compare Donovan McNabb to Mark Brunell, those Buccaneers to these Cowboys and a 1:00 pm game to a primetime match.

Yeah Sunday night's season opener was a weird experience.

Continue reading this post »

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously once educated the world about the three categories of knowledge:  the Known Knowns, these are the things you know you know, like the sun will rise in the east; the Known Unknowns, things you know you do not know, like whether Metro will be on time today; and there the Unknown Unknowns, the things you do not know you do not know, like the surprise donuts and coffee at work.

We could spend many hours and words toiling over the second two categories with the Redskins, so let us have a brief, post cuts, inter Haynesworth, pre kickoff discussion about a Known Known with the Redskins in 2010:  The offensive line.

Continue reading this post »

I have words for Redskins fans:  Feel better.  Because other teams are headed in a different direction.

This only matters of course if you are concerned about injuries and lack of offensive production, the two headlines in the wake of the Redskins' third preseason game, a victory over the Jets at New Meadowlands to put Washington at 2-1 with a tuneup to go.

To be sure, both issues should be concerning to Redskins fans, the 2010 plan in Washington was to retool with veterans, plug holes and make a run, by the time the crop of short termers was overdone the team should have found young talent to anchor long term growth and then we will really have the team built by Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan.

If those veteran players, new or established on the team, get hurt and cannot contribute, it makes the Redskins look less remarkable and sets the whole timeline back.

As far as the offensive production part, remember this is an all new team with an all new head coach, an all new offense and all new terminology.  As much as we do not like, it will take some time for this team to jell, expectations should be appropriately low while hopes inappropriately high, from the lowliest part time fan to the exalted cognoscenti of football there is no one that thinks the Ashburn team in place cannot put a winning Redskins team on the field.  It is a question of when not if.

So with one preseason game to go before the games count, let us talk a little bit about how the Redskins are developing as a team in the context of a team on the other end of the lifecycle:  The Dallas Cowboys.

Continue reading this post »

Albert Haynesworth is a slackadaisical bumbler who has failed all four tests administered to him since the new regime came to Ashburn:  He bailed on the offseason program which was always more about commitment than it was about conditioning; he showed up to camp out of shape and let himself become the story; he failed to take care of himself once he was cleared to practice, becoming dehydrated and ill and missing more practice; and finally he failed to keep dirty laundry in house, instead choosing to present himself as victim of a cruel conspiracy.

Continue reading this post »

Greetings Hogs Haveners, allow me to reintroduce myself, I am Ben Folsom, editor of The Curly R and I invite you to join me for a new regular Tuesday Hogs Haven feature called The Folsom Point wherein we examine a particular issue related to the Redskins and what it means in the much bigger picture of an organization struggling to recapture an NFL greatness that seemed so effortless for more than a decade.

Occasionally it will get ugly.  Sometimes we will an fanboy. Always our goal is a better Redskins team.

The bona fides: Lifelong Redskins fan, dad converted in 1973, three year old Ben was watching George Allen and Billy Kilmer and Sonny Jurgenson and Larry Brown in a diaper, I can still hear the old man yelling at the TV.  In 2006 I debuted The Curly R (op. cit.), a blog dedicated to chronicling the life and times of my only team with commentary, analysis and a big shot of Redskins history.  Four years, three coaches and nearly one thousand three hundred published pieces later and Curly R is still my principal football outlet.

Ben Folsom trivia:  there are only two games a year I am guaranteed to attend, the Eagles-Redskins games, I have been to 21 of the past 22 played anywhere and 19 in a row, in all of Donovan McNabb's years in Philadelphia I only missed one game he played against the Redskins, in 2000.  By the way in case that was not clear it was me in the diaper, not Larry Brown.

Looking forward to spending 2010 with the Hogs Haven community, see you Tuesday.

Photo credit:  Ben Folsom by Josh Folsom.

A Redskins fan's tribute to Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.  I attended nineteen of a possible twenty Redskins-Eagles games coached by Jim, spanning ten years and three stadiums.  Long ago I moved from anger to respect for Jim Johnson, and after a while I just realized, he knew the Redskins, how to gameplan them and how to frustrate them.  My condolences to his family and the Eagles community, he will be missed.

-Ben Folsom
The Curly R

South Lawrence Street and Packer Avenue, 11am, 5 October 2008

Greetings Eagles fans, Ben from The Curly R here, as we have for the past ten seasons my traveling partner lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery and I attended the Redskins at Eagles game in October, it was the 18th of the past 19 rivalry games we have attended and the 16th in a row for me, a streak that spans three stadiums and six Redskins head coaches.

This week I finally got around to posting up the Game Journal for that game, I invite you to head over and have a look, we also attended the December Eagles at Redskins game, I will get that one up here presently.

Photo by me.

Greetings Hogs Haven readers, it's Ben from Curly R, I had a chance to attend a special event today with Jason Campbell, I took some photos and video and got a couple of minutes to talk with Jason about the event and I wanted to share. Enjoy!

Last week I was contacted by a public relations firm and invited to an event today at Redskins Stadium sponsored by Powerade, the hydration drink endorsed by Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell. Today I attended that event and it was very much worth my while, this is the account of my trip down to the field at Redskins Stadium and my brief interview with Jason.

Today's event, Powerade's Pro Game Day Experience, invited Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland high school football players to participate in an essay contest, the winning team would be awarded full pro game day treatment, from suiting up in the Redskins locker room to football classroom experience and then practicing on the field. Jason Campbell would serve as honorary coach for the day.

The contest winner was Curtis Robinson of Dunbar High School in Washington DC, Curtis wrote about the difficulties the storied Dunbar football team has had this season, including a losing record.

I arrived at Redskins Stadium and checked in at the front desk, of all the times I had been at this stadium I had never really noticed it had a real front door. There I met Lindsay Raivich, Powerade's coordinator for sponsorship events, it is her job to travel the country and put on these types of events with athletes sponsored by the company. She was outstanding and made me feel right at home.

Along with ABC 7 WJLA's sports anchor Greg Toland and his cameraman, Lindsay took me down from the front desk to the tunnel under the stadium, past the equipment and locker rooms, and walked us out to the field. I really had no idea what to expect and had a hard time coming to grips with actually heading out to the field.

Heading out the giant Redskins inflatable helmet onto the field at Redskins Stadium.

Once we got out there, everybody went in different directions and no one told me where I could and could not go. I separated from the others and just sort of walked around in a daze, looking around at everything from the reverse angle, up and not down. Typically when I go to see a Redskins game I am way the hell up in the top deck looking down, where everything seems so small. I took the obligatory trophy photo of me on the field and emailed it to my wife with the corny subject line, Just me hanging out on the field at FedEx. This blogging thing is cool and all, at the core I am still just a football fan and this event allowed me to pierce the boundary between football fans and the business of football.


Your author standing in the end zone at Redskins Stadium.

The place was pretty well deserted, there were a couple of groundskeepers out attending the field and maybe ten people on the field associated with the event, things would not get started for another half hour or so, I snapped a few photos of my surroundings.


The event sponsor, Powerade, and their Jason Campbell event signage. I still cannot believe the Redskins have not installed high definition, or at least larger video screens. I know the stadium is 11 years old but come on, there are older stadiums with better video in the NFL.


A closeup of the turf in the end zone. Maybe I do not know much about NFL grass turf, the surface did not look so good. Obviously you can see the grass is painted for the lines and logos, look at the turf itself, pop out the photo in higher resolution if you need to, it looks pretty patchy and bare, and like one soaking rain would render it unplayable. I know it is December and getting the grass to keep growing or stay healthy must be tough, I am sure drainage and aeration and fertilization and everything is state of the art and I have no idea what I am talking about. If there are any groundskeepers out there that can educate me on maintaining a grass playing surface into January, please drop a comment or shoot me an email.


The big giant inflatable Redskins helmet the players run through. I was a bit disappointed in the somewhat dilapidated shape of the giant inflatable Redskins helmet, a condition Matt Terl also noticed in one of his first posts as official Redskins blogger. I guess those things are all custom made and you really sweat them before buying a new one.


Sean Taylor's permanent seat at Redskins Stadium.

This was to be a full game day experience for everybody, not just the players. At this point four Redskins cheerleaders came out and began prepping the Dunbar cheerleaders on the player introduction routine.


The four Redskins cheerleaders in charge of prepping the Dunbar cheerleaders.

 
The Redskins cheerleaders lined up at either end of the Dunbar cheerleaders and walked them through the up V, down V line motions when each player is introduced and comes through the giant inflatable helmet.


Prep session over, the Redskins and Dunbar High cheerleaders get ready for the Dunbar football squad to come through the big giant inflatable Redskins helmet.


A little peek behind the curtain, right where we were standing before the Dunbar player introductions there was a panel removed in the padded wall around the stadium ring, as a recovering sound engineer I can tell you those are audio cables, this is obviously a drop for microphones and audio playback originating on the field. Just one teeny tiny detail in what must be a million to keep Redskins Stadium running smoothly.


Another Jason Campbell Powerade placard, there were dozens around the playing field and in the tunnel, along with free bottles of the stuff for all. Of course being a journalist and needing to retain my independence I did not sample the wares (not).

But what that is actually a picture of is the state of decay in which Redskins Stadium finds itself. No I doubt there are any safety violation, we will not have to worry about South American style upper balcony collapse, have a loot at the rusting rail. And the burgundy padding that rings the stadium wall separating the playing field from the stands. The tops are all sun faded white and the main panels themselves look a lot more pink than burgundy. Again I know replacing this stuff must be expensive and maybe it is all on a schedule, it just seems to me that this stadium is an asset that is being sweated as hard as possible with the minimum cosmetic upkeep being applied, that is a sign an asset is either not in your future plans or about to be unloaded. If there was one the team could do to make the stadium look better on TV, I would say new padded walls in a deep burgundy, as it stands right now even close up and standing right on the playing field, everything looks washed out.


Prince George's county medics, on hand just in case anything goes wrong in the practice.


More Jason Campbell Powerade promo materials. Note the colors on the jersey are accurate but the logo has been stripped off. And the NFL has the league contract with Gatorade, I wonder if this creates contractual problems for Jason. I doubt it, it is not like he helped the league negotiate for Gatorade and it would seem unlikely that the sideline guys would be asked to keep Jason's Powerade separate from the team's Gatorade but I digress.


Another vanity shot, I just had to get the hey mom look it's me and the big giant inflatable Redskins helmet shot.

 
At this point Jason Campbell and his entourage took the field, coming down through the tunnel to the great delight of the cheerleaders.


Jason, he was taller and lankier than I thought, yes indeed damn he is tall.


Right as they were preparing to introduce the Dunbar players and coaches a fighter jet roared over, guessing it was from Andrews Air Force Base.

 
At last the Dunbar High School players and coaches take the field to NFL style introductions, it was great.


The sideline box for the team during a game, that is the Dunbar players lined up in front of it. The sideline box was smaller than I thought, given how many people and how much equipment is crammed into it. The field is only 300 feet long, I guess I do not have a sense of scale for all this from seeing so much football from high up or on TV.


Jason projected onto the big screen, there were three or four camera guys there, one from ABC with Greg Toland, one from Fox and one that must have been with the team or the event, constantly streaming shots up to the big board. After the initial warm ups and pep talks from Jason and Dunbar's coaches, the media availabilities began.


Jason talking to ABC channel seven WJLA's Greg Toland, he told me his piece would run at either 5:50 or 6:20 pm tonight (Tuesday). Fat lot of good that does you now huh.


Still talking to Greg, reverse angle. Meanwhile the Dunbar players were whooping it up and were getting ready to start drilling.


The midfield gathering and cheer...


...running sprints on the other side of the field...


...and setting up to run the ladders...


...and some time with Jason, I do not think that football was out of his hands at all the whole time he was working with the players.


The NFL logo at the 35 yard line.


Lindsay Raivich the awesome Powerade show director leading me over to talk with Jason. The things at left are little hurdles the Dunbar players had to high step over or navigate through, depending on the drill.


The helmet logo in the end zone, always a crowd pleaser.

 
Finally I got my moment with Jason, three questions, about a minute and a half, Jason was great and I made sure he knew I would be there in Cincinnati next week.


Official event schwag, don't leave without it. About time to go then I realized I was staring back into the tunnel where the players run.


Note the Geico curtain to prevent fans from dousing players as they run to the locker room. I ran video on my camera as I left the stadium...

 
This is me wandering and narrating through the tunnel as far as the elevator where I got turned around.

 
Upon leaving the elevator I realized I was on the wrong floor and was mildly surprised I was not swarmed with security notified by a proximity warning to the owner's box. Then my camera batteries died, I went through two sets of AA batteries today, note to self, bring more next time, I just upgraded to a 1GB storage card on my Nikon point and shoot and it seems bottomless for both photos and video.

Not pictured: finding the right floor and exiting the stadium then visiting the Redskins store at the stadium, though still not ideal in terms of logo'ed heavy duty winter weather gear, it is easily the best place in the area to get Redskins gear.

A special thanks to Kerri at Catalyst PR for reaching out to me, to Lindsay with Powerade for being a great host and to Jason Campbell for taking time out to talk with me.

All photos and video by me.

Making your picks to loud music is mandatory

For the second week in a row Gonzo failed to post up his against the spread football picks in the Blogger Deathsport pool.  Thanks to the wonders of technology I can accomplish the dual tasks of documenting Gonzo's picks and shaming him for a weak stream performance.  For the second week in a row Gonzo could manage only five wins:

Sunday
ATL @ PHI (-9) (FAIL)

KC @ NYJ (-13) (Yes!)

STL @ NE (-7) (PUSH)

BUF (1.5) @ MIA (FAIL)

OAK @ BAL (-7) (FAIL)

WAS (-7.5) @ DET (Yes!)

ARZ @ CAR (-4.5) (FAIL)

SD (-3) @ NO (Yes!)

TB @ DAL (-1.5) (FAIL)

CIN @ HOU (-9.5) (Yes!)

CLE @ JAX (-7.5) (FAIL)
 
NYG @ PIT (-2.5) (FAIL)

SEA @ SF (-5) (FAIL)

Monday
IND 23 @ TEN 27 (off the board = straight up even) (Yes!)

This is a wake up call to DN readers, do not continue to tolerate weak football picks from Gonzo!

IPod fail from here

A man posts up his picks

Mr. I'm too busy posted up his Blogger Deathsport picks from two weeks ago... on email.  Maybe he wanted them to be a secret, would not surprise me since Gonzo went 5-9 that week:

Sunday
SF @ NYG (-10.5) (Yes!)

PIT (-10) @ CIN (Yes!)

TEN (-8) @ KC (Yes!)

MIN @ CHI (-3) (FAIL)

SD @ BUF (off the board = straight up even) (Yes!)

NO @ CAR (-3) (Yes!)

DAL (-7) @ STL (FAIL)

BAL @ MIA (-3) (FAIL)

DET @ HOU (-8.5) (FAIL)

NYJ (-3) @ OAK (FAIL)

IND (-1.5) @ GB (FAIL)

CLE @ WAS (-7) (FAIL)

SEA @ TB (-10.5) (FAIL)  

Monday
DEN @ NE (-3) - Broncos 27, Patriots 24 (FAIL)

Translation fail from here

That Steeltown work ethic

Blitzburgh did not post his picks for Blogger Deathsport last week, oh he got them in on email, this is a blogger pool, not an emailer pool.  For posterity and scoring purposes here are Blitzburgh's picks from last week:

Sunday
CAR @ TB (-1.5)

STL @ WAS (-13)

CIN @ NYJ (-6)

OAK @ NO (-7.5)

MIA @ HOU (-3)

CHI (-2.5) @ ATL

DET @ MIN (-13)

BAL @ IND (-4)

JAX @ DEN (-3.5)

PHI (-4.5) @ SF

DAL (-5) @ ARZ

GB @ SEA (-2)

NE @ SD (-5.5)

 
Monday

NYG (-8) @ CLE
(24-23 NYG)

Week seven picks are out, will Blitzburgh evolve past email this week?

Airline FAIL from here.

It's not called Emailer Deathsport for a reason

Skin Patrol and TexSkins did not post their picks for Blogger Deathsport last week, oh they got them in on email, this is a blogger pool, not an emailer pool.  For posterity and scoring purposes here are their picks from last week:

Skin Patrol

Sunday
CAR @ TB (-1.5)

STL @ WAS (-13)

CIN @ NYJ (-6)

OAK @ NO (-7.5)

MIA @ HOU (-3)

CHI (-2.5) @ ATL

DET @ MIN (-13)

BAL @ IND (-4)

JAX @ DEN (-3.5)

PHI (-4.5) @ SF

DAL (-5) @ ARZ

GB @ SEA (-2)

NE @ SD (-5.5)

Monday

NYG (-8) @ CLE
Uhhh 35-17

TexSkins

Sunday
CAR @ TB (-1.5)

STL @ WAS (-13)

CIN @ NYJ (-6)

OAK @ NO (-7.5)

MIA @ HOU (-3)

CHI (-2.5) @ ATL

DET @ MIN (-13)

BAL @ IND (-4)

JAX @ DEN (-3.5)

PHI (-4.5) @ SF

DAL (-5) @ ARZ

GB @ SEA (-2)

NE @ SD (-5.5)

Monday

NYG (-8) @ CLE
Final score:  41-21

Week seven picks are out, will Skin Patrol and TexSkins evolve past email this week?

Airline FAIL from here.

Think I'll just stay in again tonight

Because RCR was too lazy to post his week three picks in the Blogger Deathsport against the spread pick 'em pool, I have done so for him from email picks he submitted last week.  RCR finished 8-8, good for 4th out of 10 this for week three, results here.

RCR's picks in bold

Sunday
KC @ ATL (-5.5) (yep)
 
CLE @ BAL (-2) (yep)
 
OAK @ BUF (-9.5) (nope)
 
TB @ CHI (-3) (yep)
 
DAL (-3) @ GB (yep)
 
NO @ DEN (-5.5) (nope)
 
JAX @ IND (-5.5) (yep)
 
CAR @ MIN (-3.5) (nope)
 
MIA @ NE (-12.5) (nope)
 
CIN @ NYG (-13.5) (nope)
 
PIT @ PHI (-3) (nope)
 
DET @ SF (-4) (yep)
 
STL @ SEA (-9.5) (nope)
 
HOU @ TEN (-5) (yep)
 
ARZ @ WAS (-3) (nope) (ed. note: silly silly boy)
 

Monday
NYJ @ SD (-9) (yep)

Lame dude emulating River City Rage from here.